Weather fan



ll L. FULLER WEATHER FAN Jne "1925.

Filed July 26. 1924 w M W 5, A TF, www mw@ Patented .lune 9, 1925*.

UNITED STATES IRA L. FULLER, OF GREENFIELD, INDIANA.

WEATHER FAN.

Application led July 26, 1924. Serial No. 728,288.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IRA L. FULLER, a ci'tizen .ofthe United States, residing at Green- 4field, in the county of Hancock and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Weather Fans, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a fan in which the pitch of the blades may be varied at will either with the fan rotating or with the fan 2at'rest. A fan is universally employed in a motor car to draw air through a radiator as a means of rapidly cooling theA radiator. In the winter time,'it is not necessary to draw as much, if any, air through the radia-`4` tor as in ,summer time, and, in fact, it is oftenthe case that due to a fixed bladed fan. too much air is pulled through the radiator such that the radiator contents are cooled to a point below that which' the engine operates Qiiiciently, and in this case, since no practical working means had heretofore been developed, the only recourse has been toV permit the fan to continue pulling air, .but to cover the radiator to prevent the air from going through the radiator.

A My fan may have the pitch' of its blades varied at`will even during the rotation of the fan so as to increase or decrease the amount of air pulled by the fan, and, in fact, the blades may be reversed so as to throw l -heated air from the'engine back through the radiator. It is the ,primary object of my invention to incorporate means of varying the pitch of4 the fan blades within the hub of the fan such that the said means may be entirely inclosed and operative through the center fan shaft. Further objects reside in thesimplification of construction, low cost -of "manufacture, eXtreme compactness, du-

rability through long usage, and external means of controlling the pitch of the fan blades that may be extended to be operative at any distance from the fan.d

I accomplish these and such other objects as may become apparent in the following description by the means as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in whichh Flg. 1 1s a vertical side elevation of a fan 'in which my invention/is incorporated, the

fan being here shown as mounted in the usual manner upon a motor, a fragment only of which is shown; Fig. 2, an enlarged front elevation of the fan with a fragment of the Acover plate removed to disclose the construction yin detail; Fig. 3, an enlarged horizontal section taken on the line 3 3 in Fig. 1; and Fig. 4,\an enlarged vertical section taken onthe line l.L -1in Fig. 1j.'

Like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout. the several views.

The. hub of my fan isV composedof two partsthe (rear member 5 upon which is formed the driving pulley adapted to receive the belt 6, and the cover 7 which is centrally positioned on the member 5 by means of the annular ring 8 fitting within the annular groove 9 in the member 5, and the cover 7 is there retained by means of the two cap screws 10. A shaft 11, having the collar 12 to prevent outward travel of the memberq, passes centrally through the member 5 so as to allow the member 5 to revolve freely thereon, and extends with a reducedA diameter through the support bracket 13, and is .rigidly held in the bracket 13 in the usual- 'tion of the member 5- and included under the cover 7 each of the four walls 17 forming a lplane to which the axis of rotation of the fan is arallel.

The sha 11 has a central axial passage 18 throughout its length, vand in this pas- `sage 18, I screw-threadedly engage the adjusting bolt 19, such that by lmeans of the key 20 through its tongue 21 being inserted within the oblong hole 22. in the end of the bolt 19, the bolt 19 may be turned upon its t threads within the shaft 11 so as to be extended into or withdrawn from the chamber in the member 5 by turning the key 20 correspondingly.

A block 23 is centrally carried upon a reduced section of the forwardend of the bolt 19 and is retainedV thereon'between the locknuts 24 on the end of the bolt 19 and the collar 25, being 'so mountedasto revolve freely upon the bolt 19..- lThe block 23 is of such dimensions that it may ,slidefreely over the inner surfaces of the four'disks 36 andV at `the lsame ,time serve as means of retaining the disks 36 in vsliding contact with the respective walls 17. A T-slot is formed within@ each side of the block 23 contacting lthe disks 36, and retained in each slot by its head, is a T-headed crank pin 26;.the shank of which projects laterally outward and passes with a running fit through the corresponding disk 36.

Referring to Fig. 3 of the drawing, by turning the key 2O so as to cause the bolt- 19 to travel toward the cover 7, the block 23 may be carried from the positionA indicated outwardly toward the cover 7 to a position as indicated by the dotted lines, and in so traveling, the block l23, by reason of the crank pins 26 retained thereinand also being`connected with the disks" 36, will cause the disks 36 to revolve, thereby turning the spindles 15 so as to change the anglev or pitch of the fan blades 14 correspondingly. Asthe disks 36 rotate, the heads of the crank pin-s 26 slide longitudinally of the slots in the block 23. It will be noted that the disks 36 may be made to revolve through angles closely approximating 180 degrees in either the outward or inward travel of the bolt 19 with its head block 23. v When the belt drives the fan, the shaft 1l and the bolt 19 within remain stationary such that themember 5 revolves on the shaft 11 and the block 23 revolves on the bolt 19.

The key 20 may be effectivelylocked to prevent its turning to change the pitch of the blades by drawing upi the nut 28 to pinch the collar 29 on the key 20 aga-inst the end of the shaft 11. l

' While I have here shown one form of my invention, it is capable of many variations in structural form, without departing from the spirit of the invention. I have shown the crank pins .26 as having T-heads so as to be retained Within the T-slots of\the block 23 and have a running lit in the Jdisks 36. These pins 26 may, also be' rigidly 'secured in the disks 36 in which event, the pins would have no heads'. and merely slide along in straight slots in the block 23. Also, the means. of adjusting or determining the position of the block 23 for a desired fan blade pitch may be varied fromthe screw-threaded means as shown andthe bolt 19 be a1-` lowed to slidev freely through the paage 18 of the shaft 11 and project externally from the rear of the shaft 11 so as to be hooked up with lever, frictional, or otherv 'rality of spindles rotatably mounted in said hub and entering said chamber; a head on cach of said. spindles` within the chamber;

a fan blade rigidly mounted on each'of said.

vspindles without the chamber; av bolt carried within said tubular shaft, 4screwthrcadedly engaging therewith, and projecting into said chamber; pivot means secured to said bolt within said chamber, said pivot means engaging each of said spindle heads; a key entering said tubular shaft to engage said bolt; and means of locking said key to prevent rotation or, withdrawal thereof.

2. In a variable pitch i fan, a tubular shaft; a hub rotatably, retained on the shaft, and defining a chamber within; a plurality of spindles rotatably mounted in ,said hub and entering said chamber; a head "on each of said spindles within thle chamber; a fan blade mounted on 'each of said spindles Without the chamber; a `bolt carried within saidtubular shaft,: screw-threadedly en-` gaging therewith, and projecting, into slaid chamber; pivot means secured to said 'bolt within said chamber, said pivot means engaging each of said spindle. heads; and

4means to turn said bolt.' e f Signed at Indianapolis, county of Marion,

State of Indiana, this the 21st day of July,

" IRAL. FULLER. 

